Lorenzo Musetti has enjoyed an inspired grass-court season, but so too had Taylor Fritz as Wimbledon came around.
These two were widely expected to enjoy fine tournaments in SW19, but few would likely have predicted they would be battling it out for a spot in the semi-finals.
It marked a massive opportunity for both men, and obviously only one could take it.
However, on the day, it only really felt like one of them was forcing the issue enough to warrant a spot in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
Jim Courier delivers Taylor Fritz verdict after Lorenzo Musetti defeat
Offering his instant post-match reaction after Musetti’s spirited win over his compatriot, Jim Courier was hugely impressed with how the Italian went about his business.
The game plan was incisive, and was executed to perfection to completely nullify the big-serving American.
Seeking to break it down, the 53-year-old delved into exactly what Musetti kept doing to frustrate his opponent.
He told Tennis Channel: ‘I think it was more about the variety that he was able to bother Fritz. Fritz is such a great slugger, and he made it more of a tennis match than a target contest because target shooting Taylor is about as good as anybody on the forehand, the backhand, when he gets his ball up in the strike zone.
‘But that’s what Musetti prevented him from getting. He made it uncomfortable with the slice, the finesse, the drops shots. And then also Musetti has the ability to then rip the cover of the ball, forehands and backhands, there’s just so much tennis available to Musetti.
‘He has all the shots and Taylor is more limited in what he can do, but what he does do he does as well as anybody out there.’
Taylor Fritz squanders huge Wimbledon opportunity
Given how well he performed against the world number four, coming back from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev just the round earlier, everyone expected that Taylor Fritz would quite comfortably be the man to meet an injured Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.
However, having never reached that stage before despite coming so close, it seems like nerves got the better of him once again.
Musetti did impress, and neutralised the 26-year-old with ease after the first set.
But Fritz really did little to push back, refusing to change his strategy which ultimately cost him.
Once his serves failed, and they got into that gruelling fifth set just days after he had expended so much energy against Zverev, the writing was on the wall.
He had to blow Musetti away fast to stand a chance, and he simply failed to do that. He will likely never get a better chance at reaching a Grand Slam semi-final, based on the ranking of his opponent just yesterday.
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